Turkish Red Crescent delivers aid in Iraq

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

ANKARA - The Turkish Red Crescent has delivered humanitarian aid to Turkmens in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil and 600 Christian families who took shelter in churches in the city, the organization has announced.

The aid packages, which include foodstuff, water and cleaning materials, have been delivered firstly to Turkmens in the Bahira tent camp and then to Christian families.

The Turkish Red Crescent’s aid officer in Iraq, Umit Turkarslan told The Anadolu Agency that the organization offers aid to people in need irrespective of their religion, language, race and creed.

Nearly one million people, including Turkmens and Christian families and the Ezidi minority, were forced to leave their houses since early June after a coalition of armed groups linked to the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, took control of large swathes of the country's predominantly Sunni provinces.